Bad looks, good value for money. Review on Hyundai Santro

I bought a second hand Santro DX2 a fortnight ago, so far my opinion is divided. There are good things about the car, and bad things too. As most of us agree, the tall boy design suits some people and doesnt suit many others. I feel the advantages of tall boy are visibility, better road control and easy entry and exit. However the disadvantages are back pain on long drives, insufficient space in the rear and vehicle instability at higher speeds.

Initially I hated the looks especially the front of the car. However, one gets used to the looks and its not too often that you look at your car being inside.

I have one sticky problem however. Engine knocking or what most technicians call pinking. So far I have taken it to 3 techies and they all say its because of the poor fuel quality. Engine knocking occurs when partial combustion happens even before the spark from the spark plug reaches the fuel. This detonates the vapours independent of the central combustion. It also works against the crank shaft so there will be loss of power, mileage and in the long run can harm the engine. Usually it occurs after the engine is warm especially in Summer. It occurs because of the incorrect octane number of the fuel. The higher the octane number, the better the fuel is w.r.t knocking. Earlier lead used to be mixed with the fuel to get a better octane number and avoid knocking. However, since lead emissions are harmful to the environment, we get unleaded fuel only. The refineries blend the fuel with other additives to achieve the correct octane number. But unfortunately, gas stations adulterate the fuel and in some cases adulteration happens on transit to get dirty fuels in the pumps.

To solve this problem, so far I have added additives prescribed by Hyundai but to no avail. One techie says I must try Speed or Power and additives along with it also if results are bad. Other techies say its an imported korean engine, very sophisticated and sensitive to fuel adulterations. If anyone has any proven solutions, please get in touch with me.

Overall, I am happy with the car and its accessories.